A Small CATastrophe
by Waytoowhatthewhat
Summary: Ladybug finds and adopts a stray cat while on patrol, making Chat Noir a little jealous. But how will Adrien react to Marinette's new cat? Is the cat out of the bag?
1. An unFURRtunate event

"Awwww, whats this?"

Chat stopped walking and turned around to see Ladybug on her hands and knees on the roof, crawling around the corner.

"My lady?" He walked back over to see what all the fuss was about. He got there in time to see Ladybug sittting crisscross-applesauce on the roof with a light caramel and dark brown long-haired tabby cat in her lab. She grinned proudly as she gently scratched his ears. Chat's jaw dropped.

"Who's cat is that?" He asked as soon as he regained the ability to speak. That fluffy little puffball was just sitting, happily curled up in her lap, like he totally deserved to be there. Chat immediately felt jealousy swell inside him. Which was totally stupid, he told himself, its a cat, and you are THE Chat Noir, crimefighter, partner to ladybug, defender of Paris, etc, etc _. Have a little perspective, Adrien,_ he chided himself mentally. But then he saw her give him a loving, gentle kiss on the head and he swallowed hard. God, what he wouldn't do to be that cat just then.

"I dunno, he was just sitting up here, curled up in an empty gutter. This poor little guy doesn't have a collar, either." She scratched down his back, and the cat purred loudly. Chat's ear twitched.

"Well I'm sure he'll be fine, we should go before our transformations run out." Chat offered a hand to help Ladybug up.

"What? No!" She turned as if to sheild the cat from Chat's outstetched hand. "We can't just leave him here. He'll be cold, and hungry." She nuzzled her cheek against his soft fur. "Won't you baby? Awwww, who's a wittle bitty baby waby-" her speech quickly devolved into baby talk. She was so cute holding that fluffy cat like that. Ladybug was so confident and strong and quick-witted, he didn't often get to see her being a gushy teenage girl. He decided this was freaking adorable, and he couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face.

"C'mon, he probably lives out here. Besides, _I'm_ cold and hungry."

"But he's so sweet!" As if to accentuate her point, the cat curled his tail smugly around himself. "Im taking him home with me," she declared, and stood up with the floof in her arms.

"No fair, you never let me come home with you," Chat pouted, leaning his head on her shoulder. He blinked his big green eyes a few times. The tabby booped at his bangs as they fell across her shoulder. Ladybug sighed, but her lips were pulled back into a grin.

"Mon chaton, you aren't a real cat." She playfully patted his head.

He gasped and threw his hand over his forehead dramatically. "My lady, you wound me deeply! How could you say such hurtful words to me, your only partner!" He cried with a grin. This time, she couldn't help but laugh at his display. Chat smirked. _Let's see that little puffball make her laugh like that._

"Mrowww," the cat interrupted.

"He's right, we should get going now. Ill see you tomorrow night, chaton."

"Till then, my lady," he said with a very typical dramatic Chat Noir bow, a cheesy grin, and, for added flair, backflipped off the roof.

Ladybug just smiled and shook her head as she walked off. A quiet evening on patrol usually left them with a lot more energy, but finding this adorable cat made a nice quiet night with Chat Noir even better.

Chat climbed back into his window, closed it, and detransformed. As usual, Plagg plopped himself down in the middle of his oversized bed and moaned loudly.

"I need Camembert," he groaned, dramatically throwing a leg up. "So tired..."

"Plagg, come on, you didn't even have to fight today." Plagg flew himself over and perched himself on Adrien's head.

"I thought you were gonna fight that alley cat Ladybug picked up," Plagg laughed and rolled over onto his belly. Adrien sputtered.

"Please Plagg, that's insane, I'm not going to fight a literal alley cat!" he swatted Plagg off, who floated away and kept bellowing for cheese until Adrien finally gave him some. That cat Ladybug picked up was just a pet, he reminded himself. He was her partner, the only one she trusted with her life, and her with his. Their bond was special. He smiled to himself as he started the shower.

Marinette carefully made her way back to her house, which is much more difficult that one expects with a cat in one arm. Luckily for her, she was able to get her window open with one arm.

"Alright kitty, here we go," she whispered as she set him gently on the desk. The cat mrrrowed in mild protest at having been manhandled so and began to furriously lick his paws. "Tikki, spots off." A flash of light briefly illuminated the room as she detransformed. The cat jumped a little at the bright light. Tikki perched herself on Marinette's shoulder.

"Marinette, why did you bring that stray cat home?" She squeaked, eyeing the cat suspiciously.

"He seemed lonely and sad, I couldn't just leave him all alone. Look at him, he's so cute!" She grinned down at Tikki, who was returning her smile with a dubious glance. "Oh Tikki, I'm sorry, I suppose I should have asked you first, its just so hard to when I'm in costume, and-"

"-Oh Marinette, its okay!" Tikki zipped up to her face. "I think its sweet you want to take him in. Cats can be a very big responsibility, and you already have so much on your plate. Also," she added, glancing at the cat again, "cats tend to think Im some kind of bird."

"I'll keep you safe," Marinette reassured Tikki as she cupped her kwami in her hands. Tikki nuzzled her cheek happily.

"Now come on Marinette, its late and you have school tomorrow." Tikki reminded her.

"Alright, let me get something for the cat to eat." Marinette slipped her shoes off and slooowly opened her bedroom door. She had no idea how to take care of a cat, but she figured they probably liked fish. "I know we must have a can of tuna in here somewhere," she muttered softly to herself as she riffled through the kitchen cabinets as quietly as she could muster. "...no...no...aha!" She triumphantly pulled the tuna can from the shelf. She grabbed a can opener and cut the can open.

"Psssst, kitty cat?" She crept back into her room and set the can down.

"Mrowwww!" The cat leapt enthusiastically off the desk to lap up the tuna.

"There we go" Marinette smiled, then yawned. "Alright Tikki, I'm definitely going to bed now."

"Wait one second, Marinette!" Tikki piped up. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"My alarm clock is set, my laundry is done, my homework is finished... I don't think so?"

"You have to give you new pet a name, silly!" She chuckled.

"Oh! Right!" She paused and sat on her bed and watched the light and dark brown fluffball purr loudly through mouthfulls of tuna. "Well he certainly likes Tuna... is that a good name? A cat named Tuna?

"I think its cute!" giggled Tikki.

"Tuna the cat it is!" Marinette declared with a yawn. "Goodnight, Tikki."

"Goodnight, Marinette."

Adrien was tired.

More tired than someone his age should be, he determined as he walked off the set of his latest photoshoot in these crazy tight jeans. Admittedly, they looked amazing on him, but beauty is pain and these jeans were proof of that. _Oh well_ , he shrugged as he crossed the street. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. Well, on the bright side, it was only 6:30, meaning they'd finished almost a half an hour early. He had time! Time...for what, though? Patrol with ladybug wasn't until 9. Father wasn't expecting him home until 7-ish. He could just walk around? Enjoy the day? Or- Suddenly his empty stomach interjected with a loud gurgle. That's right, he had a light lunch today. He grinned. He would go visit the Marinette's bakery. Father wouldn't know because he'd think he was still at the shoot. He pumped a fist in the air excitedly. Carbs! Pasties! Freedom! He was so excited he jogged the whole 4 blocks.

"Ting, ting," the door bell rang as he walked in. He loved everything about this place. The ring of the door when you walked in, the smell of pastries, and Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng were so nice every time. It was so comforting.

"Hello, Adrien," Smiled Mrs. Dupain-Cheng warmly as she walked to the counter from the kitchen. He grinned brightly. He often felt more welcome here than in his own home.

"Hello Mrs. Dupain-Cheng," he said, unable to keep the big grin off his face.

"You're in a good mood today," She noted, returning his smile and punctuating it with a small chuckle. "What can I get for you today?"

"Well, I-" He was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a loud crash from upstairs, followed by a yell.

"Mom!" Came a desperate cry from upstairs even as Marinette climbed down the stairs cradling a squirming cat in her arms. "Mom, I think Tuna's hungry, he keeps jumping up on my desk and biting my sl-" she froze when she saw Adrien standing in the bakery. "A-Adrien!"

"Hi, Marinette," he said with a small wave and a smile. "You have a cat?"

"Y-Y-... cat! Yes, I, um, I found a stay cat last night, and he followed me home, and, well, I..." She trailed off nervously before clearing her throat in an effort to regain some composure. "This...this is Tuna." She held out the fluffball of a feline to Adrien, who now wore a small red collar with a tag that read "Tuna".

"Aww, he's so cute, and..." He trailed off as he took the cat in his arms and Tuna batted at his bangs. This was surprisingly reminiscent of... _No, No way._ That wasn't possible...was it? _Holy crap Adrien slow down! Just because Marinette got a cat the same time Ladybug happened to get a cat and looked exactly the same and the cat remembered him and-_

Marinette was kind of confused. Adrien was staring at the cat like it contained the secrets of the universe. She peered curiously at his face. Nervousness was beginning to give way to worry. "Umm, Adrien? You don't have to hold him if he bothers you, or you don't like cats, or...?"

"Oh!" He snapped out of his sudden trance. "No no no I love cats, they're like the best things ever-" He hurriedly reached out to give the cat back to Marinette. "I just remembered I'm late for..." he trailed off as Marinette reached out to accept Tuna back from him. Their hands touched and he froze and looked into Marinette's eyes intently.

 _Oh God oh God oh God_ , Marinette prayed silently. _What is he doing?_ Her cheeks reddened more the longer he stared. Her heart was racing wildly. It was almost like he was looking for something?

"A-Adrien?" She finally managed to squeak out.

Her mother was giving him a really strange look. Shit, he was causing some kinda scene. "Oh! Sorry, M-Marinette. I have to go, Ill be backk later," He said to Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. He bowed, yelled a hurried "thanks!" as he ran out the door and didn't stop till he had turned the corner and was out of sight.

"I worry about that boy," Mrs. Dupain-Cheng sighed as she shook her head. "Is he okay?"

"I have no idea..." Marinette replied, obviously concerned as well. "Ill check on him tomorrow at school."

"Good idea," her mom said before heading back into the bakery kitchen. One thing is for certain, she thought as she took Tuna back upstairs, tomorrow was gonna be an interesting day at school.

Adrien's head was spinning so fast he could feel himself getting dizy. Was it even possible? It wasn't IMpossible...right? He believed in coincidences, but this was too much...RIGHT? He couldn't think straight. His feet were walking home on autopilot while he tried to digest what just happened. How could he have missed it? _They have the same hairstyle for crying out loud. And blue eyes. And... wait, no, there's got to be more than one person in the whole of PARIS who had dark hair in pigtails with blue eyes...RIGHT?_

"AAAAGH!" he cried. This whole thing was messing with his head.

"Adrien?" Nathalie called. Oops. He had actually made it home. "Are you okay?"

"Im fine, just tired. Long day, going upstairs to do homework!" One thing is for certain, he thought as he grabbed his backpack and ctook it back upstairs, tomorrow was gonna be an interesting day at school.


	2. Shall I Count The Ways?

Adrien was exhausted.

He hadn't slept a wink all night. He, of course, tossed and turned as his brain refused to let him stop thinking about Marinette/Ladybug/possibly the same person. There were so many things to consider ...they spun around in his head as he stared at the plate of eggs in front of him blankly, unaware that Nathalie stood in the back of the room. She shifted her weight uncomfortably as she watched the boy completely ignore his omelette. _Is he sick?_ She wondered as he fiddled with his fork.

"Adrien, are you feeling well?" She asked in her usual stiff tone, stepping up to the table next to him.

"Hm?" He snapped his head up as if coming out of a trance. "Oh! Yes, I'm just not hungry right now…."

"Very well," she replied, not sounding very convinced. "As long as you don't have a fever, let's get you to school." She waited for Adrien to get up and grab his bag before opening the front door for him and ushering him into the car. She watched him with concern as they drove off. She would make sure the doctor was on call today, just in case.

For some reason, his mind decided to run through the list- a list of points to consider if he was going to seriously entertain the thought that Marinette was Ladybug-during the ride to school, as if the ten thousand times it happened last night wasn't enough. (Somewhere around four in the morning when every wisp of good sense had left him and he was completely sleepdrunk, he had titled the list "The MariBug Debate". He had toyed briefly with "Ladynette" instead of "Maribug" but decided it was weird and "Maribug" was cuter.)

Number one: Ladybug never intended to give her identity away, and while he had been _dying_ to know, and know her better, he felt kinda bad about it. Honestly, he felt like he had cheated somehow.

Number two: He was madly in love with Ladybug. Slightly dramatic? Sure, maybe, but that's how it felt. And as Chat Noir, he had all the confidence and freedom to flirt with her, and they had a special connection. As Adrien? Yeah he was basically attractive, and famous, etc, but he was so much less outgoing. He was working on it, but for now, Chat Noir and Adrien still felt like two different people. And while Adrien and Ladybug had met before, it was a far cry from going to school with Ladybug. All this to say he wasn't sure he could handle it- regular interaction with Ladybug- as Adrien.

Number three: Marinette and Ladybug, while sharing similarities, still had a lot of differences. He wasn't 100% convinced Marinette _was_ Ladybug. Marinette barely talked to him anyway.

"Floof" wasn't the first nickname for a cat she would've picked, Marinette reasoned, but under the circumstances she felt it was acceptable.

"Awwww, he's _sooo FLOOFY_!" Giggled Rose as she clutched Marinette's phone. Juleka smiled and put her hand on Rose's shoulder as she leaned in to look at the picture. "Isn't he, Juleka?"

"Yeah, he's pretty floofy." She agreed in her usual soft spoken manner.

"He's a literal floof! LOOK AT THE FLOOF!" She shoved the phone in Kim's face, who nearly dropped it. The students of Miss Bustier's class were huddled around Marinette's cell phone in the back of the classroom, where Rose had eagerly demanded that Alya produce photographic evidence upon overhearing that Marinette had adopted a cat.

"Yeah, that's a fluffy cat, Rose."

"His name is Tuna, that's kinda…. Cute…." muttered Nathaniel from the back of the group, clutching his sketchbook.

"He is _floof_!" Insisted Rose.

"Girl, I can't believe you got a cat!" Alya laughed. Marinette smiled. "You already have enough on you plate with homework, helping out in the bakery, general clumsiness, and flailing around Adrien!"

"Alya!" Marinette blushed a little, but couldn't help but chuckle. It was undeniably true, after all.

"But seriously, why'd you keep the cat?"

"I couldn't help it, he was just sitting there alone. He needed a home." Marinette smiled. "Come on, he's pretty adorable!"

It was at this moment that Adrien stumbled into the classroom. Most people were too busy staring at cat pictures to notice, but Marinette and Nino both did.

"Heyy bro!" Nino stepped down to the front of the classroom to greet his best friend, who returned his greeting with a tired smile and half wave. "Woah, you look super tired, you okay?"

"What do you mean?" he stifled a yawn.

"Bro, you've got huge circles under your eyes, and your hair is kinda, like, a wreck."

"Oh…...really?" He ran a hand through his hair self-consciously.

"I mean overall, its, like, okay, but usually, your hair is literally perfect." Nino shrugged.

"Oh, thanks" He smiled and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Sooo, what's going on over there?" He gestured towards the crowd of people at the back of the classroom.

"Actually, Marinette got a new cat, and it's super cute and fluffy." He grinned. Adrien looked over at Marinette, who was still chatting with Alya. "Hey, Marinette!" Nino waved her over. Marinette's eyes widened.

"Alya, help! What do I do?" She whispered, grabbing Alya by the arm.

"Go show him the cat pictures!" Alya shoved her speechless friend towards Nino and Adrien. Adrien watched as Alya pushed a stumbling Marinette down the row of desks with a smile and a shake of her head.

Number four: If it was true, did Alya know?

"Hey Marinette," Nino smiled. "Adrien hasn't seen pictures of your cat." There was a moment of silence where Marinette just gulped nervously and Adrien had no idea what to say. After a few uncomfortably long seconds, Nino cleared his throat.

"Um, th-this is Tuna, remember? You met him….yesterday?" Marinette somehow managed to squeak out. _Come on Marinette, just get the words out! Its not that hard! Just ….pretend to be talking just to Nino._

"Yeah, I remember Tuna….." Adrien reached out to take Marinette's phone. _Ladybug was offering him her phone to look at cat pictures…..maybe._ He absentmindedly clicked through a few, unable to get his thoughts under control.

"Oh um, m-m-m..." Marinette stuttered. She frantically turned to Alya, who was stepping up to join the group conversation. Alya gestured with her hands, 'breathe'. She took a deep breath. "My mom was worried about you when you ran out yesterday, so she….w-well she asked me t-too…." she blushed and held out a to-go package from her parents' bakery. "She was worried you weren't feeling well and wanted to make sure you were okay and had enough to eat and all…." Marinette was so grateful for her mom sometimes. Her heart was racing, but she was genuinely concerned. And she really wanted to show him some more of the kindness he showed her once with an umbrella on the steps of the school on a rainy day. She gave a shy smile.

Oh my god. Adrien's _blushing_. Nino couldn't believe it. _I've never seen him be anything besides excited, happy, or occasionally, sad about his father._ Now his cheeks were the color of Alya's pretty reddish hair tips. He glanced over at Alya with a look that questioned whether or not she was seeing this. A single eyebrow raise confirmed that she did indeed notice. _Does he have a crush on Marinette?_ He couldn't blame him, Marinette was totally cool and cute and popular and everything. But Adrien was his best friend, why hadn't he told him? _Probably because for a minute, you liked her too and Adrien knew that._ Shit, he could be totally being a bad friend. He'd have to talk to Adrien later and let him know he should totally go for it, if that's what he wanted. Then Alya shot hm a wink that was clearly intended to be indicative of the situation, but actually just made his face feel hot.

"Th-thanks m-" Adrien coughed. "Marinette." He had almost called her "my lady" out of sheer habit. Did this mean that he subconsciously believed it? Shit, he could feel his cheeks getting warmer by the second. He accepted the box and opened it to find a croissant and a large cheese danish. Camembert. Of course. Plagg would happy. Adrien couldn't help but grin.

"I-I was too…. W-worried, I mean…." Marinette added shyly.

Adrien's thoughts ground to a screeching halt. He looked up to see Marinette completely avoiding eye contact and fidgeting awkwardly. Two thoughts came to his mind at the same time,

The first was: _Ladybug is worried about me._ He didn't mean just as, like, 'Oh no, Chat Noir got hit by an akuma blast, is he okay?'. He meant like, 'Adrien looks tired, is he okay? Does he need something unnecessarily sweet and carb-loaded to eat?'. It was personal, and warm, and touching. His heart fluttered.

The second: _Marinette's a really sweet girl._

Adrien was apparently not the only one who noticed this.

"Hey, Marinette," Came a low voice and a tap on her shoulder. Nathaniel gave a small smile. "I saw the pictures of Tuna." He held up his sketchbook with a shy grin.

"Awww, its so cute! You did such a good job! Alya, it looks just like Tuna!" She smiled brightly "May I keep it?"

"Of course! I-its for you." He looked down for a moment.

"It's wonderful Nathaniel, you're very talented. Thank you!" She beamed. Adrien glanced at Nino, who shrugged.

Number five: If Marinette was Ladybug, he apparently had some competition…. With _Nathaniel_.

This was definitely _not_ something he was prepared for.

"Settle down class, please take your seats," Madame Bustier announced as she walked in. The students shuffled into their seats. Chloe waltzed in a split second later, tossing her ponytail as she bounced to her seat. "Miss Bourgeois, please be on time for class."

"My nails were still drying." Chloe rolled her eyes as she took her seat next to Sabrina, who greeted her with a smile that was somehow both enthusiastic and shy. "I _always_ look my best," she winked at Adrien. Lila rolled her eyes and let out a soft, disgusted, sort of "bleghhh" sounding noise. Adrien waved awkwardly. Nino pretended not to see as he fiddled with his headphones. Marinette planted her face firmly in the pages of her textbook and groaned. Alya patted her head. Madame Bustier smartly ignored all of this and began teaching.

Adrien never realized how long it took for lunchtime to arrive.

He was normally a model student, being so excited to go to school and all. But he was distracted and exhausted that he either wasn't paying attention or he was falling asleep in the middle of class. He'd been called out for falling asleep three separate times so far. By the time lunch finally rolled around, he was more than happy to climb into his father's limo and be driven home for lunch. He meant to try to gather his thoughts, but the moment he sat down, he passed out.

"...Adrien!" Adrien woke with a start to Nathalie shaking his arm.

"Sorry! I'm awake!" He tried to jump out of the backseat and hit head on the top of the inside of the car. "Owww!" he yelped. He rubbed his head in pain. He was having record levels of Chat Noir bad luck today.

"Adrien!" Nathalie looked shocked. "Are you alright?"

"Im fine, Nathalie," he winced. He could almost hear Plagg laughing his butt off from his messenger bag. He stumbled into the house.

"Adrien, please sit, I'll have your bring your lunch in." She stalked off to tell the chef.

Adrien sighed and rested his head in his hands. Plagg zipped out of his bag and sat down on the table, still giggling

"You've out done yourself today kid!" He burst out laughing so hard he just rolled straight over. Adrien just glared.

"Plagg."

"How many times have you fallen asleep in class?" Adrien sighed.

"Three times," he muttered. "Can't you just chill for five minutes? Im exhausted, my head is killing me…."

"Yeah, you were up all night trying to figure out who Ladybug is," Plagg broke up laughing again.

"It's not funny!" Adrien moaned. "I still have no idea if Ladybug is Marinette or not!"

"Sorry kid, I can't tell you that. Where's the chef with the food? You asked for Camembert, right?"

"What? Plagg, you know?" His eyes widened incredulously

"Yeah, of course I do," he sounded insulted. "Ladybug's kwami and I have known each other for hundreds of years."

"W..wh…." he blinked repeatedly, "Why didn't you ever tell me you knew this?"

"Because, I knew you'd ask me, and I can't tell you." Adrien opened his mouth to answer, but his attention was suddenly shifted when the echo of footsteps reverberated down the hall. Plagg zipped back to his hiding place in Adrien's bag. The chef walked around the corner with a tray and set it in front of him. Nathalie resumed her post in the corner. Adrien lifted the tray with a yawn, his thoughts racing with this new information. How did all this happen anyway? He fought a yawn as he took a bite of his Chicken Marsala. It was all because Ladybug adopted that stray cat.

Number six: Despite having said otherwise on at least four occasions, Ladybug DID, in fact, like cats!

This simple truth of this, having eluded him for so long, hit him like a ton of bricks. He groaned and dropped his head on the counter.

Nathalie saw Adrien pick at his lunch then slam his head on the table.

"Adrien," she stepped up to his chair. "Are you sure you're feeling well?"

"Im-" A yawn interrupted his Im Fine. Nathalie whipped out her cell phone at the speed of light.

"Adrien, I'm keeping you home for the second half of the school day. You're exhausted and you might get a cold, if you don't have one already."

"Nathalie, cmon, I just didn't get much sleep last night…."

"-Which is why you'll be resting this afternoon. You have an important photoshoot tomorrow afternoon. There, I've informed Mr. Agreste. See if you can have a classmate bring you your missed assignments so you can finish them here at home."

Ugh. That may be a good idea considering how tired he was, but he didn't want to. He wanted to go back to school and try to figure out if Marinette was Ladybug!

"...Alright…." Adrien sighed. Nathalie walked off to attend to something else that required her attention. Adrien flipped out his phone to text Nino.

"So, is that cool?" Nino adjusted his hat. Alya nodded.

"Yeah, Marinette and I can take Adrien's homework to him."

"Thanks so much. Listen-" he leaned in- "I think maybe my boy Adrien kinda likes Marinette. So…."

"Don't worry about it, she totally likes him back. Just don't tell anyone yet, she'll tell him herself when she's ready."

"Chill, I respect that." Nino nodded and handed Alya a folder with Adrien's missing homework in it. "Tell him I said hey, feel better." Alya patted him on the shoulder and walked off. Nino grinned, turned the music in his headphones up, and hummed to himself as he walked home. It was a good day.

"WHAT?!"

"Breathe, Marinette!" Alya chuckled. "We're just bringing his homework to him. It's not a big deal," she assured her best friend as they walked down the street.

"Y-yeah, thats not a big deal….r-right?"

"Not a big deal." Alya agreed. "Besides, you would've volunteered to do it anyway, even if it weren't Adrien. You're so nice. And that's what everyone loves about you, and I _know_ Adrien sees it too." Marinette took a deep breath.

"You really think so?" Marinette squeaked. Alya nodded reassuringly.

"You have to own your good qualities, girl!" She said confidently as they approached the Agrestes' gate. "Now own them!" Alya rang the buzzer and shoved Marinette in front of the security camera.

Suddenly a boom and screams rang out from the city center. _Damn this timing!_ Marinette cursed mentally.

"Alya, I just remembered I have to…." she inched away. "...at the Bakery!" And without offering any more explanation, she ran off. Alya sighed, shrugged, and wrote it off as a bad case of the Adriens.

She just happened to glance up.

She just happened to have her phone out.

And she thanked every lucky star she ever had as she caught, on film, Chat Noir leaping from Adrien's balcony and swinging into action.

Hey, thanks for sticking with me! I hate that it took so long. I just graduated college like 3 weeks ago. Anyway, I value yall's input, so please leave comments! Love, Waytoowhatthewhat.


	3. A Purr-plexing Discovery

"Mwahahaha!!" Her cry rang out over the city streets as she surveyed the scene below her. People stopped and gaped up at her, eyes wide with equal parts shock and trepidation. The akuma floated several feet above the street, left hand proudly on her hip, a movie producer's clapboard in her right. She was wearing a black tuxedo jacket with a glittery lapel and long coattails that reached halfway down her legs with a white dress shirt and black tie beneath, with matching black high waisted shorts, black sheer tights, and over the knee black boots. A black top hat adorned her head, from under which bright yellow sideways bangs protruded as well as two incredibly long yellow pigtails that hung to her waist. "I am Freeze Frame!" She declared boldly. "And you will all bend to my will! No more Mrs nice girl!" She cackled. "You there! Freeze!!" The akuma whipped out an old fashioned movie clapboard and clapped it. To her complete delight the woman running away was suddenly frozen in place mid-step in the middle of the crosswalk, the terror still fresh on her face. Freeze Frame grinned giddily. Hawk Moth had not been lying when he claimed he could give her the power to fulfill her heart's greatest wish- control over time itself. Laughing, she froze everyone in place until the immediate area Was still and silent. Landing, she took a moment to gaze upon the scene she created. Everything she could see was quiet and still. People stood frozen, caught mid stride, some even having fallen to the ground. "Something's off," she wondered aloud. Taking the clapboard and aiming it at a boy frozen on the ground, she slowly moved it to the left. The boy on the ground started moving backwards, as if he were a character in a show that was being rewound. Freeze Frame continued 'rewinding' him until he stood frozen at the street corner, texting nonchalantly. She grinned- much better. Then she stepped softly through the street, admiring her creation. It was the embodiment of serenity itself- something out of a still life painting, only better, because this one was real. A soft breeze gently tousled her bangs as she breathed in slowly.

"Freeze Frame!" A voice in her head bellowed, yanking her from her daydream. "The deal was that you use this power I gave you to get me the miraculous of ladybug and cat noir! Bring them to me at once!"

"With pleasure, Hawk Moth!" Came her earnest reply. She took off and zipped through the Air.

Adrien heard the screams from his bedroom. What horrible timing these akumas have, he sighed internally, having been about to take a nap."Plagg, an akuma! Claws out!"

"But I'm still hungryyyyy….!" Plagg cried as the ring sucked him up. A flash of green light briefly illuminated the room as he completed his magical girl-style transformation and became Chat Noir. Not wanting to waste a single second, he ran to the balcony and leapt off.

The screaming was coming from the central square. Chat noir briefly wondered why akumas attacked the same places over and over as he ran across the rooftops, leaping over them with his cat-like reflexes. For a single moment, Adrien felt as satisfied as he could possibly be. Plagg and his miraculous granted him the freedom he could never hope to experience on his own. The warm breeze tousled his fluffy yellow hair, and his bright green eyes shone with boundless enthusiasm. _Mom, if you can hear me, I'm going to be just fine._ He thought with a small smile on his face.

The moment of warm feelings was short lived ay Chat Noir arrived at the scene. Like always, Ladybug was already there- he spotted her on the roof across the way and ran to meet her.

"My lady," he greeted her as he landed beside her.

"Chaton, you're here! Good timing. This akuma can mess with time, so be careful to avoid her clapboard!"

"Clapboard? Kinda old school, isn't it?"

Ladybug didn't have time to answer as the akuma noticed them and shot a blast from her clapboard. Instead, she grabbed Chat by the hand and yanked him out of the way, diving off the roof. Right as they did, Ladybug threw her yo yo, catching it on a lamp post, and swung the duo safely to the ground.

It happened in a second, maybe two, but Chat Noir never ceased to be amazed at Ladybug's strength and quick thinking.

"Come on, Paris!" Freeze Frame shouted as she floated above the street, freezing anyone who strayed to close with a blast from her clapboard. "I can make your troubles vanish! And there's nothing Ladybug and Chat Noir can do to stop me!"

"The akuma must be in her clapboard," Ladybug noted as she and Chat Noir peered at her from around the corner.

"Then let's go get it! I'll distract her, you grab the clapboard." With that, Chat leapt up and away.

"Be careful " she muttered under her breath as she yoyo-ed away.

Chat took position on the rooftop directly across from Freeze Frame. "Hey Freeze Frame! Making a movie?? I'd like to audition for the starring role! I look purr-ity good on camera!" He struck a pose and winked.

"More like a still life!" She yelled and shot a blast at him, which he dodged easily.

"What kinda movie is this, exactly??" Chat Noir pondered as he back flipped to avoid another blast from the clapboard. "More importantly, didn't Hawkmoth already make a time-themed akuma? You're plagiarizing!" he taunted with a smirk. "you're just a knockoff!" Freeze Frame's face contorted with fury.

"I am NOT plagiarizing!!" She cried, pointing her clapboard at Chat Noir. "And I'm NOT a knockoff!! Time breaker wanted to go back in time, and I'm going to FREEZE it!" Chat grinned. She was hyper focused on him, meaning Ladybug had an opening to get Freeze Frame's clapboard. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ladybug making her way across the rooftops behind Freeze Frame for a sneak attack. "But first, I'll take your miraculous!"

"Oh yeah?? Come and get it!"

Freeze Frame lunged for him just as Ladybug landed on the roof behind her and slung her yoyo from towards the akuma, catching her by the ankle. Ladybug yanked as hand as she could and Freeze Frame pitched forward and landed hard on the rooftop as her foot was pulled out from under here.

"Now, Chat! Grab her clapboard!" Ladybug yelled to her partner, who was already on the move.

"Sorry Ladybug, you've got the wrong scene!" She retorted as she lifted her clapboard out of Chat's reach and pointed it Ladybug. "Cut!!" She opened the board, preparing to clap down.

"Ladybug!" Chat cried. He had seen her freeze and rewind people on the sidewalk. She could take Ladybug's miraculous, or rewind her to before she transformed and expose her secret identity! In his split second blind panic, rather than trying to grab the clapboard and risk Freeze Frame firing it off in a struggle accidentally, he darted in front of Ladybug. The clapboard shot off its beam, hitting Chat squarely in the back, freezing him in place.

"Hahaha!" Freeze Frame laughed triumphantly. "Shall we rewind Chat Noir and see who he is before I take his miraculous??"

That was it. She had to use it now! "Lucky Charm!" she cried, striking her characteristic pose as she threw her yoyo in the air. Out of nowhere, her Ladybug magic created a lucky item, and it fell into her waiting hands. "A reel of film??" An oversized vintage looking film reel stared back up at her. _THINK, Marinette!_ She looked up and around, and as she did, objects around her began to appear red in her otherwise black and white view. Now she understood. She looked up. Freeze Frame was hovering high in the air, rewinding Chat. It really was just like on a movie being rewound, she noted mentally as she looked and saw him running backwards. She was getting close to rewinding to the point where he first arrived at the scene. I'd better hurry if I want to save Chat!! Ladybug threw her yoyo again, this time wrapping around Freeze Frame's waist, and pulled as hard as she could. Freeze Frame yelped as she was dragged down until her feet hovered a mere few feet above the roof. Distracted by Ladybug's aggressive tactic, Freeze Frame stopped rewinding Chat and he remained frozen, stuck mid-leap between buildings. With her other hand, Ladybug hurled the film reel. It whizzed by Freeze Frame, a few inches down and to the left of her head.

"Ha!" Freeze Frame smirked. "You missed!"

"No, I hit exactly what I was aiming for!" Ladybug put her hands on her hips triumphantly. Angrily, Freeze Frame raised her clapboard.

"What??!!" She exclaimed. The film reel had hit her clapboard and spilled a bunch of film, which tangled around the arm. She desperately began trying to pull all the tangled film off, to no avail. "No!!" she cried as she tried to tear it away. Ladybug easily got close to the disarmed Freeze Frame and snatched the clapboard away.

"Come on out, little Akuma!" She broke the

board over her knee, releasing the small purple butterfly. Ladybug ran her finger over her yo yo, turning it into the net, and swung it around in a circle. "Time to de-evilize!!" She deftly captured the akuma, purifying it in the process. "Gotcha!" Once the job was done, the purified butterfly gingerly flew away. She smiled. A job well done always warmed her heart. "Bye bye, little butterfly, she grinned. Only one more thing to do now. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She cried, throwing the item in the air. The power of the Ladybug Miraculous quickly set everything back to normal. This did, of course, include Chat Noir, who had unfortunately had been suspended in mid air between two rooftops. As soon as the magic swept over him, he unfroze and immediately fell.

"Yaaaaah!" He yelled as he plummeted. He was saved an inch above the ground by Ladybug's yo yo around his ankle. He looked up to see her smug grin from the rooftop.

"Mon Chaton, what would you do without me?" she grinned as she pulled him up. She extended a hand to help him back up.

He paused as his fingers laced through hers just long enough to stare into her bluebell eyes. They were beautiful- unwavering, passionate, and determined. They melted him to the core. "I'd surely be lost without you," came his eventual retort. She rolled her eyes, but her smile betrayed her amusement.

Freeze Frame fizzled away to reveal a young woman with a blonde side braid and a light blue tunic dress. "what?... Where am I?"

"Are you alright?" Ladybug helped her up. "You were akumatized by Hawk Moth. What's your name?"

"A-Aurrianne." She stuttered out that her French was not very good, she had just moved here from the States, and she missed her home. Despite missing a few words, Chat and Ladybug got the idea. Chat put a hand on her shoulder and in some fairly impressive English told her that she would adjust, she would find some wonderful friends, and Paris was all the more beautiful for having her in it.

Hearing English made her tear up, and a few straight ones fell down her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten everything her mother taught her - embrace the new opportunities life gives you, be a positive influence. She felt her face redden, ashamed at letting the negativity overwhelmed her. She glanced back up at Chat Noir, who was giving her the warmest smile and offering a hand. The forgiveness in his expression gave her hope again.

She hugged Chat again, smiled, and started walking home, waving goodbye to them. Ladybug watched with a soft smile. She liked seeing this warm and genuine side of him.

"Chat, you're almost out of time." His ring beeped in affirmation. He glanced down to confirm this.

"You're right, but Aurianne needed to hear that."

"I'm sure you helped her." Ladybug patted Chat on the shoulder, who smiled brightly at his reward. "But you really do need to go."

"Indeed, M'lady. Until next time!" He called even as he ran away.

Ladybug smiled to herself and headed home before she de-transformed, too. Chat has such a sweet side.

When Adrien got home, he de-transformed immediately. All the fatigue finally caught up with him and he fell back onto his bed.

"wow, I really am …. Tired…."he yawned. How long had it been since he slept? He tried to remember if he actually slept at all last night, but before he could, he had already drifted off.

"Adrieeeeeen!" Wailed Plagg, tugging on his finger. I need Camembert!!!"

Alya was torn.

She had barely managed to get to the square in time to witness the battle, abandoning her quest to bring Adrien his homework. It was still tucked under her arm as she recorded Chat and Ladybug talk to the girl who had been akumatized by Hawk Moth from a block away. Carefully balancing the papers, she pinched the screen of her phone to zoom in.

 _Can it be true? Can Adrien actually be Chat Noir?_ Should she stay here and interview the girl, or run back to the Agrestes' place and try to catch Chat in the act?? She froze for a split second before breaking off into a full- out sprint back towards Adrien's house. She had barely managed to get the house in sight before she caught a glimpse Chat Noir on the roof out of the corner of her eye. She quickly ducked under an awning. Adrien's place was still a couple blocks away, she could just see it. Hiding as best she could, she caaaaarefully stuck her phone out to record what she hoped was Adrien's window. She was so nervous, she held her breath.

 _Come on, come on_ …. She prayed silently, hoping both that he would land on Adrien's balcony, and that he wouldn't, at the same time.

A few heart pounding moments later, it happened. Chat Noir landed on Adrien's balcony…. And walked inside.

Alya was frozen.

 _What did I just do?_

In her hands, she held solid evidence- maybe proof- that Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste.

 _Oh my god_ , she whispered. She quickly hid the phone in her pocket. She looked around to make sure no one had seen her. _Why am I hiding? I didn't do anything wrong_. Except, maybe, she did? She always knew she would figure it out eventually. But now, realizing that she maybe just discovered a good friend's secret, made her wonder what she should do now.

 _Hold on Alya_ , she chided herself mentally. _You still can't be 100% sure it's true yet. You didn't actually SEE Chat Noir detransform._ There was still more work to do. Tomorrow, school was gonna be a really interesting experience. Something fluttered to the ground, snapping her back to reality.

"Shit!" She never delivered Adrien's homework. Well, Chat Noir or not, he wouldn't want to get behind in his classes. She shook her head in a mild attempt to clear her head, tucked her phone back in her pocket, strode confidently up to the gate, and rang the bell. After a beat the security camera whirred to life.

"Yes?" Came Nathalie's voice over the speaker.

"Hey, its Alya, I have Adrien's homework," she waved.

The gate beeped and swung open, and she walked in. She never got used to the idea that they actually *lived* like this. _Way too extra,_ she decided. When she got rich, she would probably just get a whole bunch of dogs, or something. Nathalie was waiting by the door.

"Hey, can I take these to him? I wanna say hey." Nathalie looked like she'd rather say no, but didn't want to argue with a teenager today.

"If you keep it short, he needs rest."

"Yes ma'am!" She grinned as she jogged up the steps. It took her a second to find Adrien's door. She knocked lightly. "Adrien? Its Alya, can I come in?" She waited for a reply but none came.

 _Should I just walk in?_

She gently turned the knob, cracked the door open, and pressed her eye against the opening Adrien was passed out on the bed. She quietly walked in and patted his shoulder. "Adrien, its Alya."

"Mmgmmgph." he groaned and rubbed his eyes, then propped himself up on his elbows. "...Alya?"

"Morning sleeping beauty," she chuckled. "Nathalie let me in, I brought your homework."

"Oh, thanks!" He stood and took the folder from Alya.

"So, how are you feeling? We missed you today. Marinette wanted to come to, but she had a thing at the bakery last second."

"Oh….really? Did she say what it was?" What was that in Adrien's eyes she was detecting? _So he does like her,_ she confirmed mentally. But why would he care so much about this small detail? _No matter for now, I should find out as much as I can while I'm here._

"Just a bakery thing I guess," she shrugged. She stifled a mischievous grin, but a playful smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Curiosity killed the cat, yknow." she said it so it came out as a joke, but she was focused, watching for his reaction.

"Satisfaction brought it back!" Came his witty retort not a second later, adding in a wink for punctuation.

 _Dear god. How did I not see it sooner._

"Fair enough, you got me there." she chuckled. "Glad to see you're feeling okay. Will you be back at school tomorrow?"

"For sure, I just need some rest is all. I didn't really sleep last night, and I've got a photo shoot tomorrow, so they kept me home this afternoon."

"Okay, well I'll let you get to it! Nino says hi."

"Tell him hey too!" He replied as Alya started walking out. "Oh, and say hi to Marinette for me?"

"Will do," she chuckled again. These two really just needed to kiss already.

She waved and left the Agrestes' household. But wait, if Adrien was Chat Noir, which she was 75% convinced of at the moment, and Chat Noir was super into Ladybug, why was Adrien crushing on Marinette? Didn't make any sense at all.

She made her way home as she mulled over what her next steps should be.

"Okay Plagg, she's gone." Plagg zipped out from his hiding spot.

"Then will you get me some Camembert NOW??" He moaned. Adrien ignored him.

"Did you hear what Alya said??" he grinned excitedly.

"Something not related to cheese." He retorted flatly, and sat on the foosball table.

"Marinette was with her but left all of a sudden when the akuma attacked! That has to mean that Marinette is Ladybug!" He looked out the window, brimming with excitement. He wouldn't wait for school tomorrow. He had a few ideas…..

Adrien arrived at school the next day feeling much more refreshed than yesterday. Though to be fair, that probably wasn't very hard to do, he reasoned. Still, he was bursting with excitement. _Operation Maribug is a go_ , he announced to himself. The limo pulled up to the school steps and he climbed out with a confident grin.

"Heyy, bro! Lookin good, how ya feelin today?"

"Rested and glad to be back!" He greeted Nino, who waved at Alya behind them, who elbowed Marinette, who waved to Adrien, who waved back. The students went in to take their seats and talked amongst themselves while they waited for class to start.

"I made some oatmeal raisin cookies!" Marinette was telling Alya, holding up a box of individually bagged cookies. "Would you like one?"

"I am always down for a cookie!" Alya declared as she liberated it from its ziploc bag and took a bite. Marinette grinned and followed suit.

"They turned out pretty good!" Marinette beamed. Alya nodded her approval around a full mouth while crumpling up her trash. "Here, I'll throw those out." Marinette stood and grabbed the two bags and walked over to the trash can. As she walked by, Adrien glanced over. He couldn't help but be immensely interested in everything Marinette did ever since deciding that there was an 80% chance that she was Ladybug. She stopped at the trash can by the door just as Chloe walked in. Chloe, who continued to act put out by Marinette's existence, casually stuck her foot out just as Marinette turned around, and went to her seat. Marinette, having the level of coordination that logged in somewhere between a drunk kitten and a child fresh off the spinning teacup ride, tripped spectacularly over Chloe's foot.

As she tripped Adrien bolted out of his seat, sprinted across the room, and caught her with a hand on her back and the other grabbing her wrist. He got there just in time to keep her from hitting her head on the desk.

"Careful, my Lady" He said said, amazed that he got there in time but beaming because he just saved (probably) Ladybug from hitting her head. _Score one for Chat Noir!_

Marinette was so shocked she couldn't get any words out. Alya's jaw dropped.

 _It's like he's not even TRYING to hide it!!_ Alya thought incredulously.

Adrien slowly pulled her back up. "you really should be more careful." He smiled. "You almost got hurt." Then he calmly slipped his hands into his pockets and walked back to the desk, where Nino looked baffled. He slipped back to his seat, looking over at Alya and Marinette. Marinette had also returned to her seat and was completely avoiding eye contact and still the color of a fire truck. She fidgeted nervously with a pen even as her hands shook ever so slightly.

"Dude," Nino hissed under his breath as the teacher started reading morning announcements. "What the hell was that??"

Adrien couldn't think of a good justification for what he's just done. _Sure, I'll just tell him I'm in love with Ladybug, who I know because I'm Chat Noir, and Marrinette got a cat so that means *she's" ladybug._ He glanced nervously at Marinette, then back to Nino.

"Alright I get it, I've figured it out." Ms Bustier glanced at Nino hoping to catch him talking as she suspected, but Nino shut his mouth just in time. She resumed reading the announcements. "I've got your back," he whispered again.

"What do you mean??" Adrien whispered back

"Dude, cmon its totally obvious, you've got a crush on Marinette!" Relief crashed over him as he realized that Nino had not discovered he was Chat Noir. Obviously. _Duh!_

"Oh…. Right," he replied, punctuating it with a nervous chuckle and grin, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Ms Bustier finished the announcements and began teaching, cutting the conversation short.

"...which almost concludes our unit on poetry." She was saying as she passed papers out to the class. "But this year I've decided to do something a little different. Everyone will pair up for a project, and you and your partner will have one week to write three poems: a free verse poem, a haiku, and a sonnet. I really want you guys to be as creative as possible! They can be about anything, within reason." She added, raising an eyebrow. "I hope that the challenge of writing these gives you a deeper appreciation for literature. So please choose your partners now, and be ready to work on them as your homework assignments for the next week. We will present them in class next Monday."

Marinette turned to Alya. "What do you say, wanna be partners?" She grinned. Alya returned it with a bigger grin.

"Actually, I'm gonna try to pair up with Nino this time," she confessed, looking pleased nonetheless.

"You guys sure are spending a lot of time together!" Marinette teased with a smile. She was, of course, beyond happy for her best friend. "Guess I'd better see who else is available?" She looked around the room behind her, only to find that most people had already paired off.

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien grinned as he approached their desk. Marinette whipped around to find him leaning on her desk, looking over at her with those deep, expressive eyes.. _Oh wow, look at him pose!_ She fawned internally. Then she mentally relived what happened less than fifteen minutes ago and she turned red.

"A-Adrien! I was just thinking about you- I mean talking about you! I mean we weren't talking about YOU it was Nino- n-not that I WOULDNT want to talk about you!!" _oh god make it stop!_ Rather than looking at her like she was crazy, he just gave one of his signature heartwarming yet innocent smiles.

"Well, I was thinking we should partner up for this project. Do you want to? _" holy shit yes! This is a dream right?? Its got to be! Adrien is asking me to be his project partner, which means we'll spend time together and then we-_

"-She would love to," Alya answered for her, shaking her head a little at Marinette. "I'm headed over to talk to Nino, you guys have fun!" And with that she was gone. Adrien slid into Alya's seat.

"So we should probably figure out a time to meet up and work on these poems, right?"

"Y-yeah," she managed to squeak out, a nervous smile plastered to her face.

"Can I come by after school? I have fencing, but after that I can drop by and we can decide what we want to write about."

"S-sounds good!"

"Cool! I'll see you then," he grinned as he stood up. With a little wave, he walked back to his seat. Alya finished up her conversation with Nino and gave Adrien his spot back.

"How'd it go?" Alya prodded.

"He's coming over after school! Alya, I'm so unprepared!"

Alya grinned and put a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, you got this! We'll talk about it on the way home." Marinette gave a grateful, if helpless, smile.

"Thank you!!!"

"You can repay me with more of those cookies later!" She winked.

Soon the bell rang and students filed out towards their next class. Two briefly lingered behind.

"Something's off with Adrikins and its totally Marinette's fault!" Chloe hissed to Sabrina. "Go see what's going on and report back. I will NOT let that brat hog him all to herself!"

"Okay Chloe!" She hurried after her classmates. Chloe stopped, reapplied her lip gloss, and continued on her way. She would get her way in the end….she always did. "I'm Chloe Bourgeois" she said to herself in a hushed tone, voice barely a whisper. "I can get anything I want….I'm worth it." _I'm worth it_ , she repeated mentally as she put her chin back up where it belonged and marched out of the classroom.

 _I'm worth it._


	4. Feline Just Fine

"Okay girl, listen very carefully, class is in session and professor Alya will teach you all you need to know!" She grinned. Despite her reservations about Marinette getting close to Adrien (in case he actually turned out to be Chat Noir), she still wanted Marinette to succeed.

"Okay, I'm listening!" She giggled nervously. Marinette was fidgeting with the strap of her pink bag as the pair walked to Marinette's house after school. Alya noted this mentally. She had arrived at the conclusion that she had not arrived at a conclusion- she didn't have enough evidence to conclude that Adrien was Chat Noir. She would need to stay hyper vigilant if she wanted to gather enough evidence to prove that Adrien was- or wasn't- Ladybug's partner. So she was practicing. Noticing small details as often as she could.

"First and most important lesson. Are you listening?" Marinette nodded. "You can't treat Adrien like a supermodel. You have to treat him like a normal guy."

"But he's _not_ a normal guy! He's so much more than that! He's super sweet, and hot, and-"

"-and perfect and amazing and talented, I know, I've heard this all before!" Alya laughed. "but you can't get a word out around him because you're so starstruck!"

"I-" Marinette paused, looking for a defense. She found none. "Well…."

"Exactly!" Laughed Alya. Marinette gave a sheepish grin in response. "Look, I know you think he's an amazing person, but he's _still_ a person. Just talk to him like you talk to our classmates. Or try at least!" She added before Marinette could jump in with another protest.

"I don't know how," Marinette squeaked out.

"Okay, well luckily, he's coming over to discuss the assignment. Talk about that, for starters."

"Okay! Yeah! I can do that!" Marinette straightened. "Talk about the assignment! The poetry! We can write poems about…. What should I write about?"

"That's the whole point, you two have to think of something together!"

"Oh yeah! Right."

"Good. Okay, lesson 2: Don't stare at him."

"Treat him normally, don't stare."

"Exactly! Marinette, you're a really sweet person. You just have to let him see that!" Alya opened the door to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and they walked in. Alya loved the way the bakery smelled- fresh bread, warm oatmeal cookies, sweet strawberry pastries, and the occasional lavish 3-tier wedding cakes. The quaint "ting-ting" of the door bell greeted them. It all just put her in a good mood. "Hi Mrs. Dupain-Cheng!" She waved cheerily.

"Hi Alya!" The baker smiled as she added a fresh tray of muffins to the glass display case.

"Mom! Adrien's gonna come over to work on an English project after fencing. Is that okay?"

"Sure Marinette. I'll make some croissants for you two."

"Thanks mom!" Marinette called as she ran .upstairs.

"Save me one!" Added Alya as Marinette pulled her inside. Marinette flopped down on the bed. Alya sat in the desk chair. "At least you got all those Adrien posters down from the last time he was here!" She teased. Marinette laughed.

"Yeah! No kidding." _How am I going to tell her about Chat Noir?_

"So hey, did you see the akuma attack yesterday? Ladybug and Chat Noir stopped and akuma who called herself Freeze Frame, she could stop time! Pretty insane, huh?" Marinette glanced around.

"Yeah, I think I read about that! Is it in your blog yet?"

"Not yet, I'm still editing some footage I have of the battle! Yknow what's kinda funny, though?"

"What?" _Okay, here goes!_ Alya was a little nervous.

"If you cover up his eyes…." Alya pulled out her phone and a picture of Adrien, then put her finger over Adrien's eyes. "He kind of looks like Chat Noir!" Alya smiled jokingly but she was holding her breath.

"What? That's insane. No way!" Marinette peered over at Alya's phone. Alya watched closely for Marinette's reaction. "The only similar thing I see is blonde hair." _Well she's not wrong._

"Just add a black mask!" she laughed at Marinette's expression, and put her phone away. She would drop it for now, and help Marinette get through this assignment with Adrien.

"Touch! Adrien Agreste!" Adrien pulled off his mask and grinned. He was on fire today!

 _Geez, I'm so nervous, I have so much energy!_ He headed towards the locker rooms to get changed. He couldn't stop thinking about this project he was getting ready to work on with Marinette. _Poetry with Ladybug_! He sighed mentally. He finished changing and ran a hand through his hair. _Looking good, Chat!_ He chuckled at the thought of referring to himself as Chat in his own head. The more he thought about it the more he thought it should have seemed weird, but he was starting to embrace it.

 _Chat Noir isn't just some alter ego,_ He reminded himself. _He's me. We're the same person._ He wasn't exactly sure why he'd been considering them as two different people this whole time. _Probably because they seem so different,_ he reasoned as he waved goodbye to his fencing classmates on the way out the door.

Who was Adrien? He wondered to himself as he started walking to Marinette's. _What makes Adrien Adrien and Chat Noir Chat Noir?_ It was starting to give him a bit of a headache. _I thought it was pretty straightforward,_ he mused. Chat was a superhero and Adrien wasn't, how could it get any simpler? _Chat Noir doesn't have any limits. He can do whatever he wants. Adrien can't._ Chat Noir was who Adrien wanted to be.

When he first received the miraculous and became Chat Noir, the unbridled freedom of it was near europhic. But right now, thinking about it, he just became hyper aware of all he couldn't do. When you're sitting at the dining room table doing homework, you look out the window and you think to yourself, I could be leaping across those rooftops, you don't feel any freer. You feel like a caged bird.

But here he was, standing outside Marinette's bakery, suddenly feeling freer than ever. His heart was racing. _Just gather up some of that Chat Noir confidence, Adrien!_ His brain screamed. _He is literally you! You have it deep down somewhere!_ But Adrien was too flustered to really process any of it so he took a deep breath and walked in.

 _Ting, Ting,_ the doors chimed as he walked into the Dupain-Cheng bakery. It smelled delicious, as always. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng greeted him with a smile.

"Good afternoon Adrien!" She said warmly.

"Hi Mrs. Dupain-Cheng!" He grinned and waved. "I'm here to work on a project with Marinette."

"Of course, she mentioned you'd be by. She's up in her room, you remember how to get there?" she gestured with the tray in her hands as if to say I'd help you, but my hands are full.

"Yes ma'am!" He grabbed the strap of his bag with one hand and politely waved his thanks with the other as he ascended the stairs. He stopped at Marinette's door, steeled his nerves one more time, and reached for the door to knock.

In that moment of silence he thought he heard talking. _Is she with someone?_ He glanced around nervously, then pressed his ear to the door. Sadly he couldn't hear much, but it was definitely her voice. _Well_ _ **this**_ _isn't getting me anywhere._ He knocked.

There was a split second, a crashing sound, then Marinette's voice: "Coming!" She opened the door a moment later.

"A-Adrien! Hi! Welcome! Welcome back I mean you've been here before! I mean-" She stopped, took a breath, then smiled and held the door open. "Want to come in?" Adrien grinned.

"Thanks Marinette!" He walked in, slipping his bag off his shoulder and letting it fall to the ground.

"Umm, my mom made croissants, do you want one?" She meekly held out a tray of fresh croissants. Adrien's eyes lit up.

 _I've got to marry this girl._ "Yes please!" He beamed, taking one. They were still warm, and so soft. _Take THAT, father! I'm eating CARBS and there's nothing you can do about it!_ Marinette must've picked up on his satisfaction because she took one too and grinned. "So, shall we talk about this assignment?"

"Y-yeah!" Marinette sat at her desk and opened he tablet. "Poetry- 3 poems total,a free verse, a haiku, and a sonnet. Where do you want to start?" Marinette was avoiding eye contact with him. _That can't be a good thing. Why won't she look at me?"_

 _I literally can't even look at him without losing my ability to speak!_ Marinette was silently panicking.

"Well, why don't we decide on a topic first? I've got a suggestion, if you want to hear it." Adrien pulled a notepad out of his bag.

"O-of course!" Marinette responded by forcing a nervous grin and turning to face him.

"Okay! Well actually, I think we should write about Ladybug." He watched closely for her reaction.

A beat passed before she found her voice again. "L-l-ladybug?"

"Yeah!" Adrien grinned excitedly, fidgeting with his pen. "She's saved my life more than once, I think almost everyone in our class can say that. She's the perfect subject, really!" Adrien blabbed on, unable to stop himself. "She's strong and courageous, beautiful and graceful, fearless and charismatic- she's the defender of Paris!" He knew he was laying it on a bit thick, but he wasn't saying anything he didn't believe already. As he spoke he searched her face for any sort of reaction. Her expression was damn near unreadable. _Come ON Marinette, I'm pouring my heart out to you! "_ She's literally perfect and I l-" he had to bite his tongue. _Oh my god I was about to say "I love you"!_ Adrien blushed and looked away, but couldn't keep a smile from tugging at his lips. He cleared his throat. "I'd like to write about Ladybug." He looked back up at her and gave his smile. "What do you say?"

"Uh...Ladybug… for the poem….s-sure!" She tapped her stylus nervously. The cat sleeping on her bed must have picked up on her anxiety because Tuna jumped down, walked over to Marinette, and swatted at her ankles indignantly. Adrien grinned- he couldn't help it- as Marinette picked up the floof and set him in her lap almost without thinking. Adrien reached over to pet Tuna, and their fingers touched. It was brief, but Adrien blushed anyway. All he could think about was lacing her fingers through his.

"Mrrow." Tuna interrupted, and blinked smugly. _Little furrball, hogging Ladybug all to yourself! I'm clearly the more attractive cat._ He smirked to himself at the ridiculousness of the thought.

"Great! Let's get started." Adrien smiled excitedly.

"But wait, if we're writing about Ladybug, shouldn't we write about Chat Noir too?" Adrien paused. _I didnt think about that._ "It's only fair," she was saying. "They are partners after all."

"C'mon, we both know Ladybug does all the work!" he winked, then chuckled. She grinned back at him.

"That's not fair, Chat Noir does plenty of work, even if he is a flirt!" The statement took Adrien by surprise. _Adrien Agreste, resident flirt!_ He couldn't help it. He laughed out loud. Marinette seemed surprised this time.

"What's so funny?" Adrien's laugh was infectious, she giggled slightly too, despite the confused look in her eyes.

"I never would have guessed it! Chat Noir is a flirt, huh?" He grinned, leaning in. _I absolutely have to hear this!_ Marinette reddened visibly.

"w-well I mean he's constantly saying things like 'my lady' to Ladybug for one,"

"Did Ladybug tell you that?" Adrien's uncharacteristically mischievous grin widened slightly. Marinette's eyes widened.

"Yeah! I mean, no! I mean- um- I hear them on some of Alya's blog interviews! Yeah." _Excellent save, my lady._ "And I actually met Chat a few times."

"I think I remember you saying that once! Tell me again? How was working with Chat Noir?"

"I-it was Good! He was good. Um, nice. You know! Very….cat-like!"

"But flirty?"

"A little bit."

"How so?" Marinette's cheeks darkened further.

"w-well h-he, umm, would just call me Princess a lot and he held my hand sometimes and..." she trailed off, finding herself at a loss for words. _Hehe. I'd almost forgotten about that!_

"Does he do that to everyone?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that he only feels that way about Ladybug." _Oh how right you are, My Lady._

"I see!" Adrien couldn't keep the grin off his face. "Well he sounds like a cool guy. What do you think, would Chat Noir and I be friends?" He straightened a little. Marinette laughed a little.

"I don't see why not! He seems like a good person and you do too." Her eyes widened as she realized what she said. "I mean you actually are, not that you seem like one! N-not that you _don't_ seem like one! You're sweet and handsome and…." she couldn't find the end of her sentence. Adrien was caught off guard a little. Her expression had suddenly become a little shyer. _I probably wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't been looking so closely because I thought she was Ladybug…._ The thought made him a little disappointed in himself. Even without all of this he considered Marinette a really good friend and he was certain she would have noticed if it were him. _Marinette….is really sweet._

"You really think so?" He was flattered and tried to catch her eyes.

"y….yes?" It was nearly a question as she looked up. He smiled, softly and sincerely this time.

"Thank you. For what it's worth, you are too." she giggled. "What?"

"You think I'm handsome?" a mischievous smile of her own tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"What?" it took him a second. "Oh! No, I meant sweet!" he laughed too. There it was. Fleeting but solid, he caught a glimpse of Ladybug. He liked the two of them together like that. _No, that's weird, don't think about them as two different people._

 _But you do that with yourself,_ he countered himself mentally.

 _That's different!_ Setting that aside for a moment, he thought about all the times Marinette had stood up for people. He loved Ladybug for countless reasons, but her strength and confidence and willingness to defend people who couldn't defend themselves was what attracted him the most. Maybe Marinette wasn't as loud, but he was beginning to see that her spirit was the same.

For a split second, he found himself falling for her all over again- but this time not as Ladybug.

 _I've been chasing Marinette because I thought she was Ladybug, and I almost missed this other side of her._ This side of Marinette complimented Ladybug perfectly. Looking at her, he felt like he was seeing her for the first time, the whole Marinette. _If Chat Noir is an outlet for me, wouldn't it be the same way with Marinette?_ Was Ladybug also her way of being more like who she wished she was?

"A-Adrien?" _Shit I was staring!_

"Sorry!" He blurted. "Just, ah, lost in thought I guess. We should start writing!" he grabbed his pencil again.

"I can't," she replied.

"Sure you can, you're super creative! It''ll be easy." She blushed slightly.

"Th-thanks," she stuttered out. "But I mean I really can't, the-"

"you're being too modest," Adrien interjected, not wanting her to continue with a negative line of thought. "Even my father recognized your talent! Remember the hat contest? He's a hard man to impress, and you definitely impressed me!"

"...th- the cat's asleep on my hand…." She muttered through beet red cheeks. Oops. Adrien looked at Tuna, who had curled up directly on top of Marinette's hand in her lap. Tuna eased open one eye, just a sliver, looked Adrien in the eyes, and flicked his tail nonchalantly before closing it again. A deep purr emanated from the motionless puffball, announcing his satisfaction. _He's mocking me!_ Adrien thought incredulously.

"Oh! That's what you meant." Adrien chuckled, embarrassed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Let me do the writing then. Scribe, at your service, m'lady!" _Shit, that totally slipped out._ Oh well, let's roll with it.

"O-okay! Right we should start writing then!" she blinked a few times in a row.

"Writer's block?"

"Maybe you should start," she confessed.

 _He's been in there_ _ **way**_ _too long!_ Chloe fumed. Sabrina texted her when Adrien arrived at the Dupain-Cheng bakery and she hasn't texted back since, meaning he was still there. _They're working on a project not planning a wedding!_ She had to do something about Marinette. She flipped open her phone.

"Yeah that sounds pretty good!" Adrien was in a great mood. He was pretty sure nothing could ruin this feeling, but he should have known better than to challenge the universe like that because that's when his phone rang. He gave her an apologetic glance and answered it.

"Adrien, come home right away, the journalist is almost here for your interview."

"Nathalie? But she wasn't supposed to be here for another two hours, is she early?"

"Yes, her secretary called and said they were ahead of schedule, your father sent the car to pick you up so be ready outside the Dupain-Cheng bakery when it arrives." Adrien sighed.

"Alright." He hung up, then turned to Marinette, who had been listening. "I'm really sorry Marinette, but the journalist is early for the interview, and I have to go."

"You're doing an interview? That's so cool!" her face lit up. "Will you be on tv?"

"Nah, it'll be for a magazine, or something." He had a thought. "I'll make it up to you though! I'll bring an early release of the magazine when I come back to finish the project! Can I come back tomorrow after school?"

"Y-yeah, sounds….good!" Marinette grinned, fidgeting with her stylus. "I'll walk you out!" she jumped up, but Adrien got to the door first and held it open for her with a wide grin.

"Ladies first!" Marinette gave a nervous chuckle and walked out, Adrien following behind. Before they got to the door he stopped and smiled. "See you tomorrow," he said before stepping out of the bakery and into the waiting car.

Marinette's heart sank a little as she watched the car drive away. _He's in love with Ladybug._

She should have been happy. She should have been over the moon giddy, but she wasn't. _I can never tell him she's me._ He loved Ladybug- strong, confident, capable, miraculous Ladybug. Not awkward, clumsy, run of the mill Marinette. Adrien had just flashed her his signature smile as he climbed into the car- the genuine and sweet smile. She felt her heart flutter. _How the HELL am I losing Adrien to MYSELF?!_ Her head hurt. She was just getting back in her room when her mom called.

"Marinette! Your classmate- Chloe?- is here for you!" _Chloe?_ A familiar yellow cardigan came into view.

"Chloe?"

"I wont be long, just here to do this project or whatever." Chloe called down to Mrs. Dupain-Cheng before shutting the door to Marinette's room. "Marinette." She gave her a distasteful once over with a hand on her hip. "Why did you drag Adrien here? He has better things to do than hang out at a bakery all day."

"We're working on the project, Chloe." Marinette couldn't keep the exasperation out of her voice. Now was SO not the time. "SOME people actually work together on projects instead of forcing the other person to do all the work." Chloe laughed.

"Right, as if you could actually get a full word out around him!" She started making sputtering sounds. Marinette felt hot indignation and anger swell inside her.

"You're the reason why Adrien left early, aren't you?" she accused Chloe.

"Like I said. He has better things to do, so just leave him a-LONE!" She snapped.

"WHAT is your problem with me?!" Marinette exclaimed incredulously. "What did I ever do to you to make you hate me so much?!"

"Don't act so innocent," Chloe bit back as she sat defiantly in the desk chair, crossing her arms. "You want everyone to love you because you think you're so perfect. Well you aren't, and you aren't good enough for Adrien!"

 _You aren't good enough for Adrien!_ Marinette recoiled as if stung as the words echoed in her head. _That's…..not true…._ She bit her cheek, hoping the sharp pinch would help her fight back the tears that were rapidly appearing in her eyes.

"I know I'm not perfect, and at least I'm willing to admit it!" she cried. "You're so mean to everyone, but you aren't better than us!"

"I'm more important! My dad is the mayor, and that means something to _some_ people!" she shot back. "Your parents are bakers!"

"At least I _have_ both my parents!"

She regretted it as soon as she'd said it. The look on Chloe's face was not unlike someone who'd been slapped very, very hard. Shit. _I overstepped…. Like, a lot….._ Chloe was being a brat, but that didn't give her the right to cross that line. She swallowed hard, facing a thick wall of painful silence. Tears were welling up in Chloe's eyes this time. She stood to leave. "Chloe, wait!" she grabbed her wrist. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, I was just angry and-"

"Oh my god why won't you just shut up already!" she choked back a sob. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Chloe I'm sorry, please-"

"It's not fair!"

She yanked her arm back violently and collapsed onto the bed, where a half asleep Tuna emitted a low growl in protest at being disturbed. Marinette didn't know what to say. She hated Chloe. She _hated_ her. She was mean and obnoxious and manipulative.

But she was currently sobbing into her second favorite pillow. _Dammit….._ Marinette sat down slowly next to her.

"It's not fair! I'm pretty, I'm rich, I'm famous, why doesn't Adrien like me?" She stopped to inhale deeply through the tears. " Why doesn't anyone like me? My own mother didn't even want me!" Marinette was shocked. _The rumors were true?_ _What the hell am I supposed to say now?_

Chloe sat like that for what seemed like an eternity.

She should have been angry, or embarrassed, or anything else, but she was just….sad. Adrien didn't like her. Her classmates didn't like her. Her mother was long gone. Why? What was so awful about her that nobody ever stuck around? Why did Marinette- plain looking, poor Marinette- get to have two parents?

The silence continued, uninterrupted.

She jumped a little when she felt a scratch at her leg. Tuna was there, trying to force his way into her lap. He mmrrrrowwwwed indignantly and headbutted her arm. She didn't see any point in keeping it out, so into her lap he climbed.

"Ugh….so much hair…." She sniffed. She pet him cautiously. To her surprise, the thing started purring. It was soothing. She scratched his head experimentally. He purred louder. Chloe focused on the methodical movement of petting the cat over and over, trying to slow her breathing so it was synchronous with her hand. Soon he was asleep. She sniffed again.

"Chloe…. I didn't know about your mom. I'm sorry."

"No, you're not."

"I am, really." Chloe looked up. Marinette looked sad. _Why does SHE look sad?_

"Why do you even care?" Marinette was quiet for a moment.

"I would be lost without my mom." Marinette reached over and scratched Tuna behind his ears. "It must have been hard."

"Whatever." Chloe looked down again. _It's none of her business anyway._ But there was a nagging feeling that kept tugging at the edge of her consciousness. _Nobody ever said sorry before….nobody except Adrien. Everyone else avoided the topic of my mom completely._

"You don't have to be mean to get people to notice you." Marinette looked a little uneasy, like she wasn't sure if she should have said it or not, and she shifted her weight uncomfortably. "And Adrien…." She swallowed hard. "...Adrien will be your friend no matter what. And maybe we all could be too…." Marinette trailed off, searching for the end of her sentence, which ended up sounding more like a question.

"Why the hell would I want to be friends with _you_?" Came a bitter retort. Marinette looked up, regret clear on her face and a few angry words on the tip of her tongue, but Chloe cut her off before she could respond. "Your jacket looks like it was made by a toddler, and the color is so last season." The words were the same, but lacked the venom that usually soaked them. She glanced at Marinette. She looked confused. _Oh my god, she's so dumb!_ She unleashed an exasperated sigh. "You aren't going to look any better unless you change your label, but since you're poor, you'll have to borrow something of mine."

"Are you….being nice….?" _Ugh._ Chloe rolled her eyes .

"I'm only doing this so I won't have to stare at your cheap crap anymore." She huffed. "And don't think this means I'm going to let you have Adrien either." Marinette chuckled.

"Adrien only talked about Ladybug the whole time…..I think he's in love with her."

 _Adrikins is in love with Ladybug?! Damn it all!_ The one person hotter and more famous than her!

Chloe tossed her hair. "Whatever, I'm not worried." She hugged the cat before she stood and and ejected it from her lap. He awoke with a start and growled angrily before sulking away to hide under the desk.

"Wait Chloe, before you go-" Marinette held out the tray of croissants from earlier. _I don't eat carbs, gross._ She scoffed but grabbed one anyway and took a bite.

"This is disgusting. Way too much butter." Chloe opened the door to leave. "See you tomorrow." and then she was gone.

 _That goody two shoes brat better shape up if she wants to be my friend._

"Tikki, did you hear all that?" The small kwami zipped out from her hiding place.

"I heard everything, Marinette! Adrien, Chloe, all of it! And I heard you say that Adrien is in love with Ladybug!" she hovered close, excited. "That means he has feelings for you!"

"Me, maybe, but not Marinette." She replied sadly. "I can never tell him that I'M Ladybug! And even if I could, he probably wouldn't believe me anyway, I'm not like that in real life." Marinette looked away.

"That's not true!" Tikki argued vehemently. "Marinette, Master Fu didn't give you the Ladybug miraculous so you could become an amazing person. He gave it to you because you _already are_."

 _I am?_ She never thought of herself that way. She wished she were more confident and graceful, and that she could just tell Adrien how she felt. She wished she had already figured out who Hawkmoth was so he would stop putting innocent people's lives in danger. She wished she was better at balancing the responsibilities of being Marinette the student, Marinette the aspiring fashion designer, Marinette the best friend to Alya, Marinette the daughter, and Marinette the alter ego to Ladybug. "Do you really believe that?" She asked her Kwami.

"Of course I do!" Came the high pitched yet sincere reply. "You've saved the lives of so many people, just like he knew you would. You earned the title 'Defender of Paris', you and Chat Noir both!" Tikki perched in Marinette's waiting hands and nuzzled her gently- the closest thing the two could manage to a hug. Marinette smiled. _If Tikki and Master Fu believe in me, with all their knowledge and experience, who am I to question them?_ She would redouble her efforts and find Hawkmoth to put an end to him once and for all! "Besides," Tikki continued, "Who else could get _Chloe_ to be nice to them?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but she did sound a little less mean than usual." Marinette gave a half grin. "But honestly I didn't know what else to say. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have a mom, much less to have one that just decided to leave one day. It kind of puts her attitude in perspective a little bit." Tikki gave her a quizzical glance. "Don't get me wrong, it still doesn't excuse her horrible behavior and I'm still furious about it. But I don't know, maybe I understand her a little more?" She shrugged. "It's confusing, and I still don't know how I feel about it."

"I understand. I think if you do your best to be understanding, it'll work out somehow! Just give it the Ladybug super effort!" Marinette laughed.

"I'll try!" She agreed with a small smile. "I-"

"Marinette!" Her father's voice calling rom down the stairs interrupted her train of thought. "If you're done with schoolwork, come help your mother with the vegetables!"

"Coming!" She yelled back. She turned to Tikki. "I'll be back after dinner."

"I'll be here!" She said cheerily, then settled onto a fluffy pillow on Marinette's bed. Marinette headed downstairs, contemplating the future of her relationships with her classmates.

Adrien was restless. He shouldn't have been- he'd had a pretty busy day after all, between school, fencing, working with Marinette, and the interview with the journalist. He was still confused as to why she'd called ahead saying she was early. She hadn't been, she'd arrived exactly when she was scheduled to, and acted very confused when they called and asked where she had been.

"I'm sorry Mr. Agreste, I'm in a meeting- what can I do for you?" He could hear her through the phone earlier that day.

"Ms. Montreal, I don't take kindly to people who waste my or my son's time." He said in a curt tone. There had been a pause, and Adrien could nearly hear the woman trying to figure out what she had done wrong.

"Apologies Mr. Agreste, but I'm not sure what you mean."

"I should think not!" He snapped. "You're late. Our time is very valuable, I would have thought you'd have understood this when we scheduled the interview."

"For the interview?" There was the brief but unmistakable sound of shuffling papers. "I have it scheduled for 7 pm, at your place of residence."

"Then why on earth did your assistant call and move it up two hours?!" He demanded loudly. _Ugh, father is such a control freak,_ he thought as he listened.

"My assistant?" She sounded flaberrgasted. "I don't have an assistant! Are you sure the call didn't come from my editor-in-cheif?"

"Absolutely certain." He snapped. "She introduced herself as your assistant."

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir, but I don't have an assistant and there's nothing I can do about the situation. I will arrive at the scheduled time of 7pm at your place of residence as previously scheduled." Adrien heard the minor tick of annoyance in her voice, despite trying to keep it hidden. Adrien had gotten really, really good at telling when people were annoyed. Side effect of living with his father, he supposed. His father sighed deeply.

"Very well, but don't let this happen again." With that he hung up abruptly.

Adrien had known better to ask to go back to Marinette's to work on the project, but he wished he could have. He had spent the time absentmindedly 'practicing' piano, just to keep his father off his tail. _Hehe, tail,_ he laughed to himself. He filed away the pun for future use at his next encounter with Ladybug. The interview had just ended and he was headed back to his room.

 _I need to see Marinette again._ He determined. He didn't want to wait for school tomorrow, either. "Plagg!"

"NO!" he yelled indignantly from across the room. He sat perched on the edge of the foosball table, tiny arms folded and ears back. "You have been busy all day, and I refuse to move until I've had my camembert!"

"Plaaaaagg!" Whined Adrien. "Come on! You haven't _done_ anything today!"

"I had to listen to your teachers and your dad all day! AND I had to listen to your awful attempts to seduce Marinette!"

"Awful?!"

"Yes, awful!" Plagg shot back. "That is absolutely NOT how you get a girl to like you!"

"What the actual hell are you talking about?" Adrien was astounded. "How would you even know? You're a five inch magical cat!" Plagg flew up into his face.

"Kid, I've been around for a _very_ long time. And let me tell you, a lot of things change, but the one thing that doesn't is romance."

"Okay, smart ass, what did I do wrong, then?"

"How about everything," Plagg snorted, Adrien felt his face flush. _I'm not THAT bad at this!_

"Fine!" Adrien sat on the bed, determined. "Tell me then!"

"Ah ah ah," chided Plagg smugly. "My all-knowing advice does not come free!"

"What do you want?"

"Camembert!" He cried, spinning in a circle, grinning widely. _Oh you little shit!_

"Fine! Fine." Adrien caved. He had the chef deliver some to his room.

"You've been eating a lot of Camembert cheese lately." The chef looked down at him, his expression a mix of confusion, judgement, and amusement. _Damn it….._

"It's just really good! Haha yeah, can't get enough of it!" Adrien faked a laugh.

"Have you ever smelled the stuff, dude?"

"Don't judge me," Adrien retorted before shutting the door. The guy just laughed as he lumbered away. "Okay Plagg, here's your cheese, now hurry up and talk before we transform and go visit Marinette again." Delighted, the kwami was a blur as he shot across the room to settle happily on the tray.

"Oh sweet camembert, how I missed you!" he cried fondly as he shoved a huge piece into his mouth. Adrien rolled his eyes but laughed at the scene anyway. "Alright kid lesson number one, you have to compliment her."

"But I did that!" Adrien protested.

"Ah ah- you complimented _Ladybug_."

"But they're the same person!"

"Two problems with that-" he paused to shovel more cheese into his mouth- "One, IF Marinette is actually Ladybug, because I can neither confirm nor deny that she is, she doesn't know that you know."

"How does that-"

"She probably thinks that you are in love with Ladybug and not Marinette."

"I-" Adrien opened his mouth to counter this point, but quickly realized that Plagg was actually correct. _Shit!_ He sat there, thinking about the consequences of his recent actions. "Oops…." Plagg laughed.

"OOPS is right! It's a good thing you're pretty!" Adrien stuck his tongue out.

"Oh shut up! Next point."

"Lesson two," an extremely smug Plagg continued. "You have to talk to her every day. Even if it's nothing important, you have to show that you care enough to take time out of your day to be with her." _This advice is actually really good?!_ Adrien wondered incredulously where he had gotten all this dating advice. Suddenly Adrien found himself taking notes- literally, he had pulled out a notepad- form his Kwami.

"Okay, lesson three?"

"Lesson three is the most important one." Plagg said with a serious tone. "You need to find out if there is any competition."

"Competition?"

"Yes, I just said that!" Plagg said impatiently. "Can you think of anyone?" Adrien thought back to whenever he'd seen Marinette in the classroom. He couldn't think of anyo-

" _It's wonderful Nathaniel, you're very talented. Thank you!"_ Her voice echoed suddenly in his head.

Well, shit. Wasn't he also the one who was Akumatized for being in love with her?

"Judging by that look on your face, I'd say the answer is yes!" Plagg yawned. "You'd better be prepared to outdo them!"

" _I'm_ the one who's a superhero!" Adrien stood, determined smile forming. "I can outdo anyone, I'm Chat Noir! Come on Plagg, we're going to talk to her right now! Claws out!" He stuck out his ring, and Plagg was once again sucked into the miraculous, triggering the transformation. Chat Noir grinned and leapt out the balcony window. He could almost see Marinette's balcony from here. As he got closer, he could see it- she was leaning on the railing, looking lost in thought- if a bit forlon- as she stood in the dim light of dusk.

"What's on your mind, Princess?" He greeted her as he settled onto the railing.

"Chat Noir!" She jumped as he spoke, seemingly out of nowhere. "What are you doing here?"

"I hope you don't mind," he said, somewhat apologetically. "I wanted someone to talk to."

"What about Ladybug?" _Ladybug_ \- the word sounded almost envious on her lips, or was he imagining it?

"I'd rather talk to you, if you don't mind." he replied.

"Me? Why?"

"We've worked together before a few times, and even just talked, and I wanted to talk to someone who knew me."

"And Ladybug doesn't?"

"Is something wrong, my lady?" The words slipped out again. He really needed to get that under control….. To his surprise, she sighed.

"It's nothing, really."

"Doesn't sound like nothing." He slid off the railing and walked over to lean on the rail next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's so stupid!" She groaned, leaning her head down so her forehead touched the railing and her hair covered her face. "I'm having some….relationship trouble."

"Relationship trouble?" Oh he was hooked. He _had_ to know! "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!... Yes…." She sighed again and leaned up. "I'm in love with someone who loves someone else." _Oh no…._ He genuinely felt bad for her.

"Who is it?" He prodded gently before he could stop himself. His chest could hardly contain his heart it was beating so fast.

"I don't know if I should tell you," she confessed.

"I'm excellent and keeping secrets, Princess," he said with a sweeping bow. "Can't let this _cat_ -" he pointed to his mask- "out of the bag, y'know!" She gave a chuckle. _Yes!_

"Alright but please, you can't tell anyone. I mean it!" She looked at him with large eyes. They melted him. "I'm only telling because I might explode it I don't!"

"Cross my heart," He purred, and made an x over his heart with a claw. She hesitated, then sighed again.

"You've probably heard of him. He's actually a model."

 _NO._ He dared not hope.

"His name is A-" She bit her tongue, as if having last second hesitation.

 _PLEASE, say it already!_ He was DYING.

"...Adrien. Adrien Agreste."

"YES!" Chat pumped a fist in the air, and yelled so loud that Marinette jumped.

"Chat!" She looked at him, astonished, confused, startled, and probably a few other things. _SHIT!_

"Oh! Im sorry Princess I just-" he had absolutely no explanation to offer. "I just-ummm….. I've met him before!"

"But why did you yell ju-"

"I'm happy for you because he's a really nice guy!" He blurted. It was a flimsy excuse that would tear at any moment and he knew that she knew it. He had to get out of there, fast! "I'm sorry Princess I've got to go!" He leapt off the railing.

"Chat, wait!" She called, running to the other edge of the balcony and looking after him. "What the hell was that?" She thought she could make out the shape of him disappearing into an alley. She tried to wave him back.

Nathaniel stepped out, looked up from his phone, and crossed the street.

 _OH MY GOD! Is NATHANIEL Chat Noir?!_

One thing was certain. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day at school.

Hi, friends! I just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to read this. I never would have kept up with this if it weren't for yall's support and encouragement to continue. That said, I also wanted to apologize for how long it took to get the next chapter out. I really wanted it to be quality content and not rushed, so I appreciate your patience and hope you'll continue following the story! Please comment and review your opinions, I read every single one- they're great, and I love feedback!! As always, yall are the best!

Love,

Waytoowhatthewhat


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